Clear Sky Sunrise
by Torns
Summary: Kazuto's life was fairly uneventful. When his only escape from reality turns out to be even worse, a blue lunatic shows up just in time to kick him into gear. A story about capes, swords, heroics, and most of all, drive.
1. Just Pay Me Back Later

I don't own Sword Art Online or any of the characters. Too bad, I guess.

* * *

 **Chapter One**

 **"Just Pay Me Back Later."**

* * *

In a chamber with walls made of a dazzling red gemstone, on a golden throne towering several meters above the spotless and clean-cut stone floor, sat a king.

A god.

His plate armor shone just as red as his palace, the pale, silver crown placed upon his head almost glowing. The calm of his smile was rivaled only by the silence of his throne room, a silence that had enshrouded him for months.

A silence that was broken when the impossibly giant doors at the other end of the room were practically blown open.

"It's about time you got here," the deity said, rising to his feet. He began walking down the steps leading up to his throne, intent on meeting the intruder halfway. "I was starting to think you'd never reach this place… Black Swordsman."

"You didn't exactly make things easy," the swordsman said, marching towards the king. His coat, dark as a new moon, fluttered when he unsheathed the blades strapped across his back. "But I was always going to make it here."

"You sound very sure of yourself." The god held out his hands, and in a flash of light, a sword and shield appeared within them. "And to come here alone? Some would call it foolish."

The two stopped right across from each other. "Maybe," the swordsman said. He held up one of his swords, pointing its sapphire blade at the man before him. "You should know that it had to be this way, though. After all, I'm the hero of this story."

The king smiled. "Let's see how it ends, shall we?"

A clash of steel followed soon after.

* * *

 _"Hi there! It's time for this week's MMO Stream! And what else is there to talk about but the release of the greatest game to come out this generation! Of course, that's Sword Art Online!"_

Sitting with his back against the concrete wall, Kazuto looked down at his phone, watching intently as the screen showed images of what could only be hundreds of people waiting in a line. There were some tents here and there being dismantled, and public servants going around making sure that nothing got too out of control.

 _"The first ones to get the game waited in line for three whole days! Talk about hardcore gamers!"_

The fourteen-year-old looked around at the empty school roof, getting a little worried over the noise coming from his phone. Unfortunately, he'd forgotten his headphones at home.

 _"SAO was created by the genius inventor of the NerveGear, Kayaba Akihiko! For the first time ever, players can finally experience a completely virtual world—"_

Man, this lady was just gonna keep talking about things everyone already knew, wasn't she? Kazuto was already thinking about switching over to some other stream. _I wish they'd just show some gameplay already…_

At that moment, Kazuto heard the door open. His thumbs rushed to pause the video, but instead he accidentally dropped his phone. It fell on the floor in the space between his bent legs, and the boy almost had a panic attack before he looked down and saw that the screen hadn't cracked.

 _"… an MMORPG with no magic! Luckily for all you ranged players, Kayaba-san was smart enough to include bows and other distanced weapons. Can you imagine having to flail around with melee weapons all the time?"_

"Yo, someone else here?" From the corner of his eye, Kazuto saw someone round the corner. "Oh! Uh, Kirigaya-san, right?"

Kazuto fumbled to pick up his phone and sprang to his feet, gulping when he saw a group of two other students staring back at him. "Y-Yeah, I… N-Nice to meet you!"

His classmates looked at him, and he looked at them, neither party really knowing what to say.

 _"… seriously, what kind of name is Sword Art Online anyway, right? I mean, you can use maces and spears and…"_

The raven haired teen could practically feel his face reddening. As discretely as possible, his thumb held down his phone's home button, and to his relief, the sound was cut off.

"… I'll be going now…"

Before Kazuto could take one step, one of the students, a girl with chestnut hair done up in a bun, got his attention. "Hey, that was about SAO, right?" Seeing his lack of reaction, the girl cocked her head to the side. "Did you get the game too?"

Reaching up to scratch the back of his head, Kazuto gulped down his need to be _not here_. "Ah, no, nothing like that. I'm not that lucky…"

With only 10,000 copies released on launch day, it wasn't much of a surprise. He would've gladly camped out in line for days like the people from the stream if he could, but his… mother… probably wouldn't have appreciated such an unwarranted break from school.

The other student, a boy with a dangerously pointy nose and equally sharp facial features, sent him a pitying look. "That's tough."

Smiling, the girl hugged the pointy-nose boy's arm. "Kou-kun just feels guilty because he got into the beta!"

"You don't have to keep telling everyone, Meuma-chan..."

Kazuto's eyes widened as the couple began to bicker in front of him. If the girl was being serious, that meant that this Kou guy was one of the blessed few 1,000 players that had gotten into the beta. He'd tried getting in himself, of course, but the odds were astronomically stacked against him. It had left him a little bitter, but considering that he would've more likely gotten struck by lightning than gotten into that prestigious group, it didn't come as much of a surprise.

It didn't really help that getting into the beta would've given him a free ticket into SAO proper.

All that aside, it seemed like the roof wasn't solely his anymore, and the other two were making him kind of uncomfortable, so Kazuto decided it was time to make his leave.

Stepping around the couple, he went to the door and opened it. "… Bye," he said, knowing that the two had probably forgotten about him already.

* * *

School was finally out. Students left the campus in waves, talking amongst each other, bringing out their phones, some walking, some driving, heading home or to the mall or to wherever it was.

As for Kazuto, he was in the process of unchaining his bike from the rack. It was the same ride home he'd used for years, its paint chipped and some parts even rusted. It still worked just fine, so he wasn't about to go and spend money on a new one, but taking ownership of it everyday right outside as classes let out was always a bit embarrassing.

It was as he stuffed the chain lock in his backpack that a group of boys walked by. Out of everyone else passing through, they were the only ones to catch Kazuto's attention.

"Yeah, man, there's apparently like a thousand skills or something."

"Damn, I really wish I could've gotten a copy!"

Kazuto opened his mouth. _Actually, the game's supposed to come with an unlimited amount of skills._ That's what he wanted to say, but the words wouldn't come out. Looking up, he noted that the group had moved on.

The boy stood up, grabbing his bike by it's handlebars and pulling it out from the rack. _Wouldn't have heard me anyway,_ he thought, getting on the seat.

Just as he was about to push off the ground, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Not used to the sensation, it took him a while to figure out that he must've gotten a message from someone. Pulling the device out and holding it up to his face confirmed it.

 _Get home soon. I have a surprise for you!_

 _\- Sugu_

Kazuto didn't exactly know how to feel about this. The last surprise he'd gotten relating to his sister hadn't exactly made him happy. Still, should he… reply? Bringing his other hand up, Kazuto prepared himself to do just that, but before he could write anything, he shook his head and put the phone back in his pocket. He would just have to ask about it in person.

As he rode home, Kazuto took the time to look around. His route was fairly direct and usually took around ten minutes or so, but something made him want to go slower. Maybe it was the knowledge that something was waiting for him back home, and whatever it was, well, it could wait, couldn't it?

The people walking by, the cars stuck in traffic, the buildings looming over him and everything else, the well-kept trees poking out from their assigned spots along the sidewalk, the greying skies, the paved roads…..

He'd ridden home the same way the day before, and the day before that, and the day before that. He'd probably ride home the same way again tomorrow.

Was this all there was, then? The thought didn't fill him with dread. He could live like this for a long time. He could dream about a world of swords and a steel castle floating in the sky as much as he wanted, but in the end it wouldn't change much, even if he _had_ been able to go to that place.

Life was like that, though, wasn't it? It happened, then it didn't, and it usually wasn't very exceptional. He could live with that.

"Oi, watch it!"

Kazuto swerved out of the way, barely avoiding a rather annoyed man who didn't look like he would've appreciated being run over. _I should probably stay alive first of all,_ he thought, an apology catching in his throat.

Eventually, Kazuto slowed to a stop on his driveway. Getting off his bike, he ambled over to the front door and, tentatively, reached out his hand. Just as he was about to touch the handle, he stopped, a frown on his face.

What kind of surprise was it anyway? He and Suguha never talked. Ever. That was mostly him, sure, but still, wasn't it a bit sudden? He needed to think about this.

As soon as Kazuto took a step back, the door was thrown wide open.

Suguha's black, bobbed hair and dark blue eyes were there to meet him. "Onii-san, come in!"

"Uh…"

Rolling her eyes, Suguha grabbed her brother by the arm and dragged him in. "I heard you come in on your bike," she said, walking them into the living room. "You really need to start putting it in the garage, Onii-san. Someone might steal it or something."

The truth was that getting the garage open, putting his bike in it, and then have to do the same thing just to get his bike out the next day was too much of a hassle. Instead of saying all that, though, Kazuto just nodded his head. "Uh-huh."

Suguha finally let go of him, only to turn around and push him onto the couch. "Just stay here, okay? I'll be right back, and I promise this'll blow your mind!"

Kazuto raised his hand. "Actually, Su—" Aaaand she was gone. "…. gu…."

So there he was. Alone in his living room. Waiting.

….. Wasn't there something going on today? Something about… art? Art class? That couldn't be right.

Shrugging it off, Kazuto looked back at the stairs to the second floor, wondering when Suguha would come back down. His feet began to patter against the wooden floor, and his eyes eventually came to rest on the flat screen against the wall in front of him.

It was strange to be like that, he on the couch and the TV right there. He hadn't really been in that position for a while, not since he'd gotten rid of his old console. It was right after buying the NerveGear—

Shit, he'd completely forgotten about SAO. Checking his phone's clock, Kazuto clicked his tongue. The servers had already gone online. Shuffling back and forth in his seat, Kazuto checked the stairs again. "Sugu!"

"One second!"

He might not have had the game yet, but damn it if he didn't want to check on a few livestreams that would undoubtedly be showing it off. Should he just go up to his room and check on Suguha later? She'd probably be disappointed, but the launch of the first ever fully immersive massively multiplayer online role playing game was a once in a lifetime thing, right?

Just as he was about to start a war with himself, Suguha came into view. She stopped right in front of him, her hands behind her back. "Ready?" she asked, grinning.

Kazuto, his mind somewhere else entirely, nodded to get it over with.

"Ta-da!"

It was just a copy of Sw—

…

A copy of Sword Art Online. An actual, physical copy. The box was right there. He could see it with his own two eyes.

Seeing that her brother was completely speechless, Suguha's grin widened. "Don't just sit there," she said, waving it in his face. "Take it before your eyes pop out."

His mouth hanging open, Kazuto reached out, almost reverently, and took the game. Holding it in both hands, he looked at it, examining the font of the writing, tracing all the curves with his eyes, feeling its weight. "H-H-How?" he asked, out of breath.

Suguha sat down next to him, Kazuto barely registering the shifting cushions. "One of my friends is really into this game, you know. He said he was gonna wait in line for it, and since you couldn't, I asked him if he would buy two copies."

"…. Why?"

Her smile softening, Suguha bumped him with her shoulder. "You really, really, _really_ wanted it, right? Just pay me back later."

Was it weird that Kazuto felt like crying a little? It wasn't just the game either. Well, that was a big part of it if he were to be completely honest with himself, but seriously? He didn't deserve this. He certainly didn't deserve this from Suguha of all people.

Something rose up in him then. Words came unbidden into his mind, but after everything, he had no idea what to tell her.

 _You're the best._

 _I'll definitely make it up to you._

 _I'm sorry._

He settled with a thank you.

"No problem," Suguha said, standing up. Walking over to the kitchen, she turned her head to meet his eyes. "Mom's probably gonna come home late again, so I'll take care of dinner. You've got half an hour, okay?"

At first, he didn't know what she was talking about. When the realization hit, a smile creeped into his face, and he ran upstairs to his room as fast as humanly possible.

Kazuto didn't bother shutting the door. He didn't bother changing out of his uniform, or making his messy bed. The moment he was in his room, he tossed his backpack into the corner, not caring about whatever was inside, grabbed his NerveGear, put SAO in, laid down on his bed, and stuffed his head in the helmet.

All calibrations had been made when he'd first gotten the VR console. There was nothing to update. He was ready.

Smile still in place, Kazuto closed his eyes.

So what if everything would be the same when he came back? The thrill in his chest, the mad smile on his face, it all had to mean something.

"Link start!"

* * *

 **AN:**

 **Generally, Sword Art Online kinda sucks. It's riddled with so many damn clichés and bad, truly horrible writing that its popularity made me lose a little bit of the faith I have in humanity. I don't want this to be a fix fic, but if I manage to fix a few things along the way just by accident, well, that'd be swell.**

 **Not that you should put too much stock into this story. Honestly, I'm only using it to write out all the ideas I can't fit into my other work. It'll be fun for me, at least.**

 **As for the chapter itself, the changes I made to canon should be pretty obvious. Unfortunately for the people that might like that sort of thing, Kirito's not gonna be an unbeatable cardboard box with an equally flat harem.**

 **What else… Actually, you know what? By the end of the next chapter, you should have a pretty clear idea of how things are going down here.**

 **Throw a few reviews my way and tell me what you think, huh?**


	2. You Gotta Look Cool Doing It Too!

Don't own SAO in any way. Boo hoo.

* * *

 **Chapter Two**

 **"You Gotta Look Cool Doing It Too!"**

* * *

 _This was a bad idea._

The sentence repeated itself over and over again in Kazuto's head as he dived under the gnarly claws of the red-eyed, dark furred wolf assaulting him. It was what he'd been doing for the better part of five minutes, and while the monster's health was dipping into the yellow, so was his.

Why couldn't he have just stayed in the Town of Beginnings like all the other non-suicidal people? Now instead of panicking behind safe walls in the company of frazzled and despairing players, he was panicking in some forest somewhere in the company of things that were trying to kill him.

Getting a lucky stab at the Dire Wolf's side, Kazuto grimaced when the monster managed to nick him on the leg in return. Those first couple of Frenzy Boars he'd taken out on his way out of town were clearly not representative of all the monsters on the floor when it came to difficulty.

What the hell was he thinking when he decided to push further out?

 _Just pay me back later._

God damn it.

The Dire Wolf lunged, catching Kazuto by surprise and pinning him to the ground, its paws forcing him down by his shoulders. Frantically, the boy let go of his sword and reached up to hold the wolf's muzzle away, watching in terror as it bit and growled a hair's breath from his own nose, it's spittle covering his face.

Not five seconds in and Kazuto could already feel his arms starting to waver, the wolf's clamping teeth getting closer and closer.

 _Not like this…_

 _Not on the first floor! Not a day into the game!_

 _I'm fourteen! Shit!_

That's when a sword flew out of nowhere and buried itself right between the Dire Wolf's eyes. The monster's head flew back, and as it did, a figure ran out from above Kazuto's view. The other player— for it was hard to believe that an NPC would do something so outrageous— then jumped over Kazuto, grabbed the sword's hilt, and whirled around.

In that brief instant, while the unnamed player twisted in midair, the blade, still stabbed into the monster's head, began emitting a soft blue hue.

 **"Horizontal!"**

The player spun his way through the air like a sideways top of death, dragging the sword through the Dire Wolf and splitting the monster in two. Kazuto, mouth opened in a silent gasp, watched as the player landed some meters away, sheathing his sword on his hip after twirling it around in his hand.

The Dire Wolf vanished in a puff of sparkling pixels, and Kazuto heard the ping that came with gaining experience points. None of it really registered, though. For the life of him, Kazuto couldn't stop staring at the man in front of him, one who'd begun to stare back.

"Hey, you doing okay there?"

The first thing that came to Kazuto's mind was _blue_. Not just in relation to the other player's clothes, but to his hair as well. _Blue, blue, blue._

A hand shoved itself into his line of sight.

"Let's get you up."

Kazuto took the hand, his own numb with either shock or fright, and found himself pulled up to his feet so fast that he almost fell over again. "Heh, had me worried for a sec," he heard the man say, feeling a few pats on his back. "That was a close one, wasn't it?"

A close one was right. The adrenaline now gone, Kazuto was able to look back and reflect on how close he'd come to biting it. It wasn't like near-death experiences happened to him very often. In fact, that had been his first.

Relief flooded into him, but when Kazuto brought his hand up to his face, he couldn't help but notice how much it was shaking. With a gulp, the boy closed his hand and squeezed bringing the trembling fist to rest against his gut.

A frazzled sigh leaving his mouth, Kazuto turned to look at the other player. "Th-Thanks a lot. Really. I'm, uh… Kirito."

The username came with some difficulty, this being the first time he actually introduced himself with it. It was just something else in the long list of things he'd have to get used to.

The man stepped back, a smirk growing on his lips. "Call me…" he raised a hand, sweeping it before him before having it rest on his hip, "…. Diavel! The Blue Knight! You don't know this yet, but I'm the hero of this story!"

At that last proclamation, Diavel jerked his other hand behind him, but as soon as he did, a scowl made its way to his face. "Damn," he muttered. Crossing his arms, the knight sent Kirito an apologetic look. "It'd be cooler with something billowing in the wind, huh?"

"I… I guess?"

"There's a quest somewhere around here," Diavel continued, looking around with narrowed eyes. "It has this awesome cape as a reward, and it's blue to top it all off. You seen any dead bodies around?"

Kirito really wanted to know what this guy's deal was, but he shook his head instead of asking.

"Well there's no point standing around here," the knight said, beginning to walk deeper into the forest. "Pick up your sword and come on! I wanna get that cape before nighttime!"

The knight didn't slow down, pushing tree branches aside and climbing over roots. After a few seconds of just staring at Diavel's back, Kirito bent down, picked his sword off the ground, sheathed it on his back, and went after the man in a hurry.

* * *

Kirito watched as his rescuer looted the corpse of what looked to be a soldier. The body was leaned up against the trunk of a tree, complete with dirty, broken armor and missing limbs. There were also several holes in the body's chest, one of them even going all the way through and revealing the bloodied wood beyond it.

"Man, whatever killed this guy must've been pretty brutal, huh?" Diavel asked, smiling as he pulled out a piece of paper from the corpse's pocket. "Aha! Here we go!" Standing up, the knight unfolded the parchment, smoothening its wrinkles, and got down to reading. "Blah blah blah monstrosity, blah blah blah meanest thing I've ever seen, blah blah blah camp in danger… There!" Diavel threw the note over his shoulder, turned away from the body, and strolled away. "C'mon, Kirito!"

Giving the body one last look, Kirito speed walked to catch up to Diavel, coming up to the knight's right. "Uh… What was all that about?" he asked, stepping over a root protruding out of the grass.

"Say that again?" Diavel asked, digging out his ear with his pinkie.

Kirito coughed into his hand, then spoke up. "What was in the note?"

"Oh, that? I dunno, something about his hunting party getting wrecked by a super strong monster." Diavel shrugged, bringing his hand up to scroll through his menus as he walked. "I just needed to read enough of it to update the quest. You should've gotten a notification too since we're partied."

The younger of the two did in fact get that notification. It came up right under his health bar, reminding him that he was still at level three. "Diavel-san, is this really what we should be doing right now?"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"I mean, well…" Kirito didn't know how to put it without making it sound insulting, so he was just going to cut himself off there, but Diavel's inquiring glance made him feel like he needed to say something. "… This quest rewards you with a cape, right?"

"A blue cape, yeah."

"Isn't it kind of… a waste of time? I-I mean," Kirito brought his hands up in defense, almost tripping on a rock, "I just want to know why you want it so badly. It's just a cape."

Diavel closed his eyes and hummed, avoiding a few low-hanging branches in the process. "Kirito," he said, his voice much deeper than it usually was, "you're young, so you might not understand, but this cape is extremely important."

"Um… It is?"

His hand on his chin and his eyes still closed, Diavel nodded. "It is. You see, while the vendors on this floor sell cloaks and capes in a variety of colors, this is the only one here that reaches past your thighs for maximum wind billow potential."

"..."

"It also happens to be blue, which makes it perfect for me. This is my dream cape, Kirito."

"I… I don't know what to say." Kirito scratched the side of his head, trying to wrap his head around all of the information he'd just been given. "So you want it because it… looks cool?"

"Yes."

"And that's it?"

"Yes."

"Okay, but why's _that_ so important?"

Finally, Diavel opened his eyes, presenting Kirito with the toothiest grin he could manage. "Because being a hero isn't just about saving people and beating the bad guys. You gotta look cool doing it too!"

Kirito couldn't argue against that. Not because he didn't want to, and not because there were no arguments against it, but because he didn't think he could say anything that would change Diavel's mind. So he mumbled out an 'oh' and left it at that.

The two eventually happened upon a wide clearing, one with a cave entrance right at its border across from them. Kirito stopped, standing just within the safety of the tree line, but Diavel continued unimpeded.

Seeing the young player's hesitance, Diavel turned his head back, still walking out into the clearing, and flashed Kirito a smile. "Smart idea, Kirito! I'll draw it out, and you catch it by surprise!"

Opening his mouth, Kirito was about to point out that the smart idea was to run in the other direction, but it caught in his throat. In the blinding darkness of the cave, two glowing red eyes appeared, so intense that they captured Kirito's attention from the other side of the clearing.

Diavel was quick to notice too, and with a wicked grin, he grabbed the handle of his sword. "You probably don't remember me, but I've already beaten your ass before," he said, drawing his blade with a slash, not slowing his saunter towards the cave in any way.

The red eyes became brighter and brighter, until the beast itself emerged from the darkness and walked out of its lair. It stood as tall as a horse, each of its paws with claws more akin to daggers, with thick canine legs. Shaggy indigo fur covered its long body, with splotches of black running along its swaying tail and hind legs. What stood out most of all, however, were the curved tusks sprouting out of its growling muzzle.

Each step gave away more and more of the controlled tension rippling through the monster's body. Its beady red eyes locked onto Diavel, who didn't look worried in any capacity, and as soon as the beast was well and truly out of its cavernous home, a single health bar appeared on top of its head, along with a name.

 **«Leonel, King of the Forest»**

Kirito watched it all in a mixture of awe and apprehension. "A miniboss…."

Diavel wanted to fight _this_ thing? _Alone_? For a damn _cape_?

Every nerve inside Kirito told him to leave. He wasn't getting anything out of this apart from EXP and maybe some money, but that wasn't exactly worth the risk, not at his level. SAO might've been new to him, but he'd been playing games his whole life, and he knew for a fact that when a newbie player came across situations like these, the best thing to do was to get the hell out as soon as possible.

Not to mention the kind of game he was playing here. A death game where real life was at risk wasn't the place to throw everything away for the sake of a purely cosmetic item!

 _But…._

Diavel had saved his life. The man may be an idiot, but he was an idiot Kirito owed his life to. But what could he even do to help? Wouldn't it be just as bad if he went in there and got himself killed right along with Diavel? What was he supposed to do?

The miniboss jumped at the knight, its tusks set to skewer him. Scoffing, Diavel brought his sword up to parry the attack, his blade sliding along the side of the tusk and slicing into the beast's side. With a howl of pain, Leonel jumped back, just out of the player's reach.

"That didn't do much, huh?" Diavel said, his smirk not dwindling one bit even as he saw the miniscule chip his hit had made on the miniboss' HP.

The two circled each other, Diavel not bothering to set his sword between them as defense, instead having it rest at his side. Slowly, the knight was facing Kirito once more, with the monster's back turned toward the younger player.

Bringing his hand up, Diavel gestured for Kirito to go and join him. Instinctively, Kirito took a step forward, but froze on his tracks a second after.

Diavel was unperturbed. Seeing as Kirito wasn't planning to come over anytime soon, the knight took a moment to strategize.

Leonel pounced once more, this time getting on its hind legs and swiping with its claws. Diavel ducked, his torso almost parallel to the ground, and dashed under the attack.

….. And he didn't stop running.

It took Kirito a bit of time to realize that Diavel was sprinting towards him, with Leonel right on the knight's tail. It was such a shock that his body locked up, and before Kirito knew, Diavel was in front of him.

Right before running into Kirito, the knight twisted on the spot and faced the advancing monster, his sword glowing blue. "I'm trusting you, Kirito! **Horizontal!** "

His blade sliced into the monster, impeding its forward movement with a trail of red and blue pixels. Using the movement of his horizontal swing, Diavel sidestepped out of the way, leaving Kirito to come face-to-face against the beast.

As Kirito's eyes met the red of his imminent killer, everything froze.

SAO had been getting a lot of coverage pre-release, being the first game of its kind and all, and when the beta testers had gotten their hands on it, the flood of information had become nearly astronomical. Everything from customization options to glitches to random quest objectives to combat tips and tricks was available for the public to see.

Kirito saw it all, of course. He couldn't get the game, but the internet was free for everyone.

There were several things he had learned during this time, but out of all that information, one specific detail came to mind right then. That being, sword skills usually caused plenty of stagger on top of their dealt damage.

His hand coming up to grab the sword strapped to his back, Kirito did the only thing he could think to do. Just before Leonel got over the stagger caused by Diavel's attack, he activated his «Slant» skill, slashing diagonally from his shoulder down.

The monster stepped back, staggered once more.

Unfortunately, a key piece of information had failed to be remembered by Kirito until that instant. Every sword skill also had a cooldown time attached, leaving the user practically defenseless. And it didn't look like the stagger he'd induced on Leonel was going to last as long as his cooldown.

 **"Vertical!"**

Cutting the beast upwards, Diavel took a step forward, forcing Leonel back towards the clearing, staggered once again. Kirito watched it happen, almost stupefied, until Diavel caught his eyes.

"Keep it up!"

Those three words injected Kirito's veins with adrenaline. His cooldown now complete, Kirito dashed forward, cutting into the monster with a «Horizontal».

Diavel stepped in immediately after with a «Slant». "That's it!"

Kirito, eyes wide, advanced with a «Vertical».

Almost floating on the ground, Diavel came in and out of the miniboss' range with a «Horizontal». "Two people, spirits synched in perfect harmony!"

With a heave, Kirito thrust his blade forward in a «Linear».

«Slant». "No room for error! An unstoppable barrage!"

«Horizontal»

«Horizontal»

«Vertical»

«Linear»

«Slant»

«Slant»

«Vertical»

"It's….. a **Switching Stream!** "

The timing became almost muscle memory. At some point, the attacks began blending together, becoming more of a multicolored lightshow than two swordsmen taking turns backing a monster back into its cave. Its growls and whimpers bled into the continuous roar of their attacks. The forest around them faded further and further into the background. All Kirito knew in that brief span of time was the enemy, and his own wicked grin.

That is until they brought Leonel'sHP down to red. When Diavel next attacked, the monster tanked the hit and slammed its tusk against the knight's side.

Kirito gaped, watching as the other player was thrown over to the ground, health half gone. _No stagger!?_ By pure reflex alone, Kirito was able to block the monster's pointy tusk with the flat of his blade, though some damage still went through.

Jumping back, Kirito checked his health gauge. _Already in the yellow!? That wasn't even a direct hit!_

The miniboss didn't give him much more time to think, charging straight at the player. Kirito brought up his sword, though to be honest he didn't know what he was going to do with it.

 _I'm way too under leveled for this! The only reason_ _it's_ _anywhere near dead is because we've been cheesing it the entire time!_

 **"Saving Your Ass Again Tackle!"**

Before the monster could skewer Kirito once and for all, Diavel slammed himself against its side, tackling Leonel out of its course. The monster ran right by Kirito, going too fast to stop on a dime.

"D-Diavel?"

The knight flashed him a smile, a healing crystal appearing in his free hand. "Heh, you really thought I'd lose to _that_ thing?" He crushed the stone, refilling his HP as the item disappeared in an explosion of pixels. "Don't make me laugh!"

Leonel finally managed to stop its momentum and turn around to face the two players. It stomped once, twice, and began charging at them again.

Kirito took a step back. "We need to get out of the way!"

Scoffing, Diavel bent his knees and held his hand out at the approaching monster, his sword becoming imbued with blue light. "If I run from something like this, what kind of hero does that make me?"

 _Are you nuts!?_ Seeing the monster getting closer and closer, Kirito took another step back. "Diavel, you idiot!"

"Listen up! I'm gonna be the one to beat this game and save everyone! No doubt about it!"

Kirito dived out of the way, hitting the ground just as Leonel crashed into the blue-haired player.

Except there was no crash. Diavel had jumped just as the monster reached him, high enough to just barely get off the ground. Avoiding the protruding tusks, Diavel's hand landed right on Leonel's forehead, and the knight let himself get pushed along by the monster's charge.

Placing his feet on top of Leonel's tusks, Diavel brought his sword arm back, the tip of his blade pointed right between the miniboss' eyes.

"It's been fun! But!"

Lying on the ground, Kirito watched transfixed as Diavel used his «Linear» skill.

"Game over! **One Hit Kill… BLUE ROCKET SPEEEEEEAAAAARRRRR!** "

The sword dived into the monster's head like a cerulean jet, impaling itself hilt-deep. The world froze, and as Kirito looked at the shining knight, eyes alight in reckless abandon, a part of him couldn't help but believe every single word that had been coming out from the man's tongue.

The miniboss' HP went down to zero percent, and a moment later, it exploded into blue pixels, dropping Diavel lightly on his feet. A screen appeared in front of Kirito, and he dully noted that he'd gone up two levels.

As for Diavel… Well, he had already taken the pleasure of equipping his Last Attack Bonus.

"Ah… That's more like it," Diavel said, turning to face Kirito, his cape waving behind him. "So? Pretty sweet, huh?"

Kirito nodded. He could do nothing else.

Sheathing his sword, the blue knight began walking away. "Alright, onto the next order of business." Noticing that the younger player was still kneeling on the ground behind him, Diavel glanced at Kirito from the corner of his eye. "Oi, Kirito! You coming or what?"

So Kirito did the only thing he could think to do.

He followed.

* * *

 **AN:**

 **Now you kinda see where I'm going with this, right?**

 **As a side note, screaming out your attacks doesn't actually do anything practical. Diavel just does it because it's cool. That basically describes his entire character here.**

 **Anyway, I decided to skip the whole "Giant robed Kayaba expositioning for like half an hour" scene and get right to the action. You wouldn't be here if you didn't at least know the premise of SAO. You die in the game, you die in real life, no logout, etc. Simple stuff that I don't need to waste my time with.**

 **Diavel's gonna be an important character, so get ready for that. Shouldn't be too surprising, I mean, it's on the summary and everything. He's OOC as hell, but the truth is that most of these characters are gonna have to be at least a little OOC for them to be actually interesting and… well,** _ **good**_ **.**

 **Asuna next chapter, everyone.**

 **Remember to follow/favorite/review.**


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